The Perils of Cocaine Addiction

Cocaine Addict

Cocaine is a widely popular drug that is regarded as the leading cause of addiction worldwide. Addiction to this kind of drug can lead to serious health repercussions in
terms of mental as well as physical damages, and worse death.

The aftermath of cocaine addiction can depend on the length of
abuse and exposure of the individual to the drug. Overall, the effects of cocaine addiction in the body can be categorised into two - long term or short term.

Short Term Cocaine Use

Individuals who make use of the drug for once will surely experience its short term effects. The short term effects of cocaine addiction can include rapid speech, lack of appetite,
dilated pupils, and high body temperatures. Some also experience a boost in energy, heightened mental alertness, and heart palpitations.

Those who tried the drug once are easy prey to drug addiction as they enjoy some of the short term effects of it like heightened energy and mental alertness. The boost in energy
can help make the user feel as if he can do almost anything in life and even at work, for many this is one of the many ‘lures’ that eventually lead to heavy drug use. Eventually, it can lead to
more tolerance to the drug which can finally lead one to use more and finally lead to cocaine addiction.

Those who wanted to lose weight experiment with the drug because of its short term effect where users are not hungry when on the drug. A user can go on for days without eating,
it is because the drug surpasses appetite. Sadly, using cocaine this way can also lead to addiction and can result to other health hazards and complications.

Long Term Cocaine Use

An individual who is suffering from cocaine addiction will start exhibiting the dangerous long term effects of substance abuse for a prolonged period of time. Heavy cocaine use
leads to tolerance to the drug, which in turn forces the user to crave for more in order to get to the same ‘high’ he or she wanted. Hence, the long term effects of this kind of addiction can
lead to heart disease, respiratory failure, gastrointestinal problems, stroke, seizures, heart attack, coma, and worse - death. The less severe impacts of long term use are nausea, blurry vision,
fever, chest pains, muscle spasms, and convulsions.

Aside from the physical effects, the addiction can cause other psychological problems such as restlessness, auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, irritability, and
paranoia. This kind of addiction can also have an adverse effects on relationships, because addicts would often display negative behaviours like lying, cheating, stealing, and doing everything
they can to support their drug use.

Addiction to cocaine is very destructive in a lot of way. Thus, the best move is to abstain from the drug and never mess with it.